Tennessee lawmakers are considering a bill that would add another, harsher penalty for people who make threats of mass violence at school.
The measure would make it a felony for kids or adults to “knowingly” threaten four or more people at schools, places of worship, government offices or live events if others “reasonably” believe the threat will be carried out.
A law already in statute charges people with a felony for threats of mass violence at schools, whether or not the threat is credible. It has resulted in children being arrested and expelled for jokes, rumors and misunderstandings.
The new bill is being framed as a change to the current school threats law. But that’s not the case, lawyers and advocates say.
Instead, the bill would mean that kids and others who make threats against a school could be charged with two separate felonies. Advocates at the statehouse have told lawmakers that the new bill, if passed, could cause more confusion as police and school officials figure out how to handle these threats.
“This bill, to some extent, is duplicative and unnecessary for addressing school-based threats of mass violence,” Zoe Jamail of Disability Rights Tennessee told lawmakers during an April hearing, “Because it creates a new felony charge for student behavior that is already covered by our current statute.”
The new bill as amended, HB1314, introduced by Rep. William Lamberth, R-Portland, and Sen. Jack Johnson, R-Franklin, does require the threat to have intent and credibility — a benchmark that is not included in current law. But it also increases the penalty to a higher-level felony, and expands the types of places where someone can be charged, beyond just a school. It would require the higher felony for people who were already convicted for making a threat or people planning to carry one out.
The press secretary for the House Republican Caucus confirmed that the bill is a separate piece of legislation from the current threats of mass violence law, and that “a DA will have discretion to choose which statute to press charges under.”
“We appreciate the steps this current legislation takes to improve what is previously on the books,” legal expert Beth Cruz told lawmakers during a hearing. “However, it doesn’t address the other statute we have.”
She asked them to “harmonize the legislation with the same intent requirements, same definition of threat, same credibility language” for both felony charges.
Lawmakers and state officials didn’t directly address those concerns during the committee hearing.
Elizabeth Stroecker, director of legislation for the Department of Safety and Homeland Security, said the new bill would prevent kids who did not intend to carry out a threat from being charged, “because we do have that higher threshold.” She did not address Jamail and Cruz’s concerns about the existing law. She declined to respond to WPLN News’ questions.
But advocates point out it would not protect kids from being traumatized by an arrest over a minor incident, like a 13-year-old boy who was arrested for saying his backpack would blow up when only his stuffed bunny was inside.
The bill has passed out of both the House and Senate Judiciary committees, and is scheduled to be heard in Senate Finance, Ways and Means next week.
ProPublica’s Aliyya Swaby contributed to this report.
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